What is flowback?
What is flowback?
Flowback is the first stage of a hydrocarbon well’s producing life. Before flowback begins, the well is drilled and then it is fraced. Usually, while those operations are being conducted, all of the production equipment is brought to the site and the production facility is constructed. When all of these operations are complete, the operator is ready for flowback.
Lasting anywhere from 1-3 months, the flowback phase is crucial to optimizing production. The first fluid that is produced from the well is a mix of crude oil, formation water, natural gas, frac sand, as well as frac water and chemicals. It is important to use sand separation technology during flowback to efficiently capture the sand so that it does not reach the production facility.
If a significant amount of sand passes the sand separating equipment in flowback, there will likely be hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, replacement parts, and clean-up fees.
EnerCorp Flowback Equipment
What are the different stages of a well’s life that flowback operations support?
Flowback operations and equipment support multiple stages of a well’s life, including toe prep, frac, drillout, and flowback, in addition to cleanout operations on older producing wells.
At EnerCorp, we take a highly engineered approach to flowback. Our flowback operations don’t start with an equipment list. Instead, we look at the stages of your well’s life up to this point, and understand the specifications for this particular job. Our engineers look at the expected well flow regimes and any potential challenges anticipated to determine a well site configuration that minimizes AFE and LOE spend.
Configured for the flowback phase, early production phase, and steady state phase, our flowback and sand management solutions minimize equipment footprint and personnel required at your site, reducing environmental hazards, safety concerns, and costs.
Learn more about EnerCorp’s approach to flowback for each stage.
What is the evolution of flowback?
Traditional flowback
Traditional flowback Setup – Equipment and PERSONNEL
Production Facility
Flowback 2.0
In this evolution of the flowback process, we bring in our patented cyclonic technology, the Mojave Dual Cyclone, with a sand capture rate of up to 90%. It works efficiently in high flow rates and the two-phase cyclonic process has been used on thousands of wellsites across the globe. In some cases, we also use our Scorpion or ScorpionXT sand filtration technology to capture more than 99% of the sand produced. This rigup will reduce the equipment footprint slightly and significantly reduce sand related issues during operations.
Flowback 2.0 Setup – Equipment and PERSONNEL
Production Facility
Flowback 2.0+
Utilizing the Sahara Advanced Cyclone, we can greatly simplify flowback operations. This industry-leading technology provides unparalleled sand-capture rates, working effectively across a broad range of flow regimes.
An entirely modern way of considering flowback, this evolution removes virtually all sand out of your hydrocarbon production stream with a single piece of equipment. This capability allows us to support our clients with significantly less equipment and personnel needed to meet flowback objectives.
Flowback 2.0+ Setup – Equipment and PERSONNEL
Production Facility
eFLOWBACK
The latest evolution of flowback sounds like something from the future, but it’s a present-day reality.
Using industry-leading sand separation technology with automation, measurement systems, and cloud-based software, EnerCorp creates a fully autonomous job site. Operators can reduce excess equipment, lower labor costs, and minimize harmful emissions and HSE exposure, all through autonomous control of flowback and sand management.
